89 Gnome Convoy (end)

*Cleo has cast Arachni Predator*

All Allies receive + 40 ATK, 30 percent Haste.

Cleo hovered above the ground, weaving a pattern of spider webbing directly in front of the circled wagons. 

[Cleo has joined the Raid]

The white-haired Rider targeted the nearest enemy, managing to unhorse him with a well-placed headshot.  The player regained his feet a moment later with half of his health gone, only to be put down with Chainy's second shot.  "Fish in a barrel..."

Remmy squeezed off a round, resulting in a headless horseman careening into another rider, knocking him from the saddle.  The RH member jumped to his feet, intending to chase down his horse, when his right leg disappeared below the knee.  "QJ and Ringo are on your side; give them some support."

"Of course," Chainy replied. 

[Raid: Maric] There's a question mark over the top of that guard's head.

[Raid: Chainy] One of the TAP guards is offering a quest?

[Raid Quest: Taking out the Trash] 

Description: Defend the Gnome Convoy and earn the gratitude of Fora, the most powerful nation in TAP. 

Reward: Gnome-built Machinery.

Ringo and QJ had already engaged the enemy on the opposite side of the battlefield.  When QJ nodded, she quickly accepted the quest. 

[Whisper: QJ/Ringo] You still have that spirit animal you won at the TAP Apple Festival?

[Whisper: Ringo/QJ] Choo?  Yes, of course.  He's so cute.

[Whisper: QJ/Ringo] Summon him and turn him loose.  TAP spirit animals grab group xp regardless of what they do.

[Whisper: Ringo/QJ] No way.  He's level 1, just a little piggy.

[Whisper: QJ/Ringo] He'll be fine.  Named TAP beasts are notoriously hardy. 

[Whisper: Ringo/QJ] Fine.  But if he gets hurt, you're in big trouble. 

Ringo summoned Choo and then, bending low in saddle dropped him into the knee-deep prairie grass.  The hairless, pink piglet disappeared into the grass, only the tips of his ears showing as he bolted after his companion. 

QJ targeted the nearest enemy, charging straight into the fray. 

[Aimed-Shot]

(Headshot Bonus)(Critical Hit)

QJ has hit the target for 49,233 damage. 

Fire Scorches your target for 9,847.

QJ passed to the right of the RH player, countering his opponent's hatchet strike with a strike across the wrist that unexpectedly resulted in a severed hand and splattering of blood. 

Ringo was trailing QJ close enough to dodge the hand that suddenly bounced toward her, but she could do nothing about the bright red blood splashing against her face. 

[Double-Direct Shot]

Ringo has hit the target for 24,899 damage.

[Six-Gun Fan]

Ringo has emptied her gun into the target for 4,258 damage, 9,488 damage, and (Critical Hit) 19,433 damage.

Jela Crone has been slain. 

QJ engaged the next target, confident that Ringo was batting clean-up.  Unexpectedly, the knight veered into QJ's path, intent on ramming Scorch with his war mount. 

Without time to consider more options, QJ kicked his feet free of the stirrups and stood on the saddle momentarily before leaping forward. 

With Swordgun extended, his target took the full strength of a weighted thrust aided by two charging horses on a collision course right through her left eye.

[Weighted Thrust] (Critical Strike)

QJ has hit the target for 44,504 damage. 

[Point Blank] (Critical Strike/Exposed Wound) 

QJ has hit the target for 67,322 damage.

Fire scorches your target for 13,464 damage.

An instant later, QJ slammed into the heavily armored knight, unhorsing her. 

Knight Commander Mari Desalle has been slain.

Instead of slamming into the ground, QJ tucked his head and came up in a roll, running along the same path. 

Sensing his rider dismounted, Scorched veered enough so that both mounts took only glancing blows on the shoulder. 

"On your right!"  Ringo holstered her gun and braced herself before extending her arm.  Smooth as silk, QJ slid behind her while she altered course to chase down his mount.

On the other side of the battlefield, a dozen riders broke off from the circle and charged into the perimeter.  Three shielded TAP guards stood just outside the webbing trap Cleo laid down.

A 4th TAP guard stood casually off to one side, watching the battle unfold.  Their enemy's first mistake was to try and encircle them, giving the OP Riders ample time to thin their ranks. 

Guardsman Percival held a deadly-looking, black halberd over one shoulder, waiting for the situation to develop.  Three of the charging riders were picked off by Junzo and Maric, while the remaining nine rode unobstructed into the webbing. 

The weight and speed of the horses weren't enough for them to break through.  Five of the riders were unhorsed by the sudden change in momentum; the armored figures bounced into the webbing, sticking like insects to flypaper. 

Two riders on either side of the trap managed to skirt the deadly snare.  Percival ignored the right side since that's where the Vic and the ghosts were waiting.  Stepping to one side, he sliced horizontally as the first rider broke the perimeter. 

[Cleave] [Mortal Strike]

Gale Thread has been slain. 

Percival spun the halberd without pausing and stabbed the second rider through the chest.  The razor-sharp blade passed entirely through the armored breastplate and emerged out the other side as the second rider was lifted off his horse and flung casually to one side. 

Calen Gnorr has been slain. 

Blood splashed liberally onto the webbing, the first break in the line resulted in an enemy being cut in half.  The sight of the knight's horse fleeing with his lower half still mounted on it was enough to stop the second attempt from taking shape. 

On the right side, Viconia swung her hammer downward like she was chopping wood.  Both man and horse were driven into the prairie grass.  The mount regained its feet and fled the scene, leaving his rider behind with the top of his head caved in.

Stealthed rogues appeared on the right side and closed in on the remaining breacher.  A few seconds passed, and the perimeter defenses remained intact.  The Incider Spiders immediately moved into the webbing and began feasting.

Percival stabbed the butt of his halberd into the ground and took a long drink from his canteen. 

[OP: Maric] Who the hell is that?  That's a regular TAP guard?

[OP: Junzo] Did you see it?  He cut the first guy in half and then impaled the second. 

"Return to the wagons?" Ringo asked.

"Yeah," QJ turned Scorch, noticing that their opponent was gathering their remaining forces for an all-out charge. 

[Raid: QJ] Looks like they finally wised up.  Keep thinning their ranks. 

Ringo's horse followed Scorch.  It had been only a few minutes, but the surviving enemy forces were severely depleted.  She recognized that QJ used her and himself as a diversion while their snipers devastated the ranks. 

[Raid: QJ] They're going to come at us with their remaining forces.

[Convoy: Remmy] Engineer Rosie, prepare the parting gift. 

[Convoy: Rosie] Aye, aye, Engineer Remmy!

A handful of engineers connected four long elastic straps between two wagons while the enemy forces gathered themselves for an all-or-nothing charge.  The ends of the strap were carefully attached to a  woven, wicker square, slightly larger than a bath towel. 

[OP: Junzo] That looks like the water balloon slingshot we used in high school. 

Rosie was a spectacled gnome, slightly shorter than Remmy, with a slender form and red curly hair.  She held an object the size of a bowling ball in her hands. 

QJ grinned when he saw it; gnomes loved to blow shit up.  The problem was that, on occasion, they included themselves and everyone around them. 

[Convoy: QJ] Do not light that before they begin their charge. 

[Convoy: Rosie] Of course, QJ!  I won't blow us up a second time.  Tell me when. 

Ringo exchanged glances with her Vice Leader.  "She blew you up?"

"Not really," QJ denied.  "She blew up our fort in Ravenwood.  I was one of four people buried in the rubble."

Ringo laughed at his expression.  "Practical joke gone bad?"

QJ nodded.  "You could say that." 

The remaining 40 or so enemies rushed their charge since the Convoy's sharpshooters continued to thin their ranks.  QJ exhaled and moved Scorch forward a few strides. 

[Convoy: QJ] Light it and send it. 

Rose pulled the wicker carrier back, drawing it to its full length.  Her assistant lit the three-second fuse and then backed away. 

"Rosie, the Gnome Engineer, welcomes you!  I'm twenty years old, single, I like cats and walks on the beach..."  Rosie released the carrier, sending it shooting forward. 

The 'special gift' bounced in front of the charging ranks before landing nicely in their center.  An instant later, the ground exploded upward in an explosion that vaporized horses, riders, and a fair amount of dirt.  None emerged unscathed, although the riders on the edges maintained most of their health. 

[Raid: QJ] Melee move in and mop up; range fighters support them. 

QJ charged in but pulled up when he was within range and started firing systematically.  The ghost and TAP guards dispatched the remaining dozen or so combatants with their support.

From start to finish, the attack on the Gnome Convoy took less than an hour.  It ended in a complete and total victory; their enemy was eliminated while the Convoy suffered no casualties. 

Ringo paused long enough to pick up Choo; the hairless piglet was no longer bald, and he had grown slightly.  She pet the bristly black hair that sprouted on his body; her nose wrinkled in distaste.  "My beautiful piggy..." 

QJ pointed at the four tiny nubs, two on either side of its snout.  They were hard like bone and sharp at the tip.  "Keep feeding him xp." 

Within a relatively short while, the convoy resumed its journey to Lake Ghalt. QJ rode beside the 'Beast' wagon, practically drooling over the possibilities.  The quest was updated at the end of the fight with a message that read. 

[Your Gnome-Built machinery will be delivered tomorrow.] 

QJ grinned at Remmy, who, of course, smiled and waved.  "So... we have a Beast being delivered to the Keep?" 

"Hmm?"  Remmy erupted in laughter.  "My Beastie?  No, no, no, no... My Beast is one of a kind.  I couldn't give that to someone."

QJ glanced back at the Guard riding shotgun on Beast.  Percival shrugged slightly as if it had nothing to do with him. 

[OP: Chainy] That TAP guard seems a bit... well, OP!

[OP: QJ] The NPC Assassin's alter egos aren't widely known but aren't secrets either. 

[OP: Ringo] That's Q?  Your Dad?

[OP: QJ] In the flesh.

[OP: Chainy] Players can't enter other games. 

[OP: QJ] Exodus recognizes all of the NPC Assassin's alter egos as NPCs. If he were to drop Percival now, he would be booted out. 

[OP: Junzo] For real? Then he could play all the Exodus Games with one account!

[OP: Maric] That rocks.  That would be awesome if he knew how to play the other games. 

Chainy laughed aloud since she'd been in raids with Quinn before. 

[OP: Chainy] Before Quinn was Q, he was probably the most prolific Striker ever to play.  When he left for TAP, he brought a handful of Striker legends with him, guys like Hashtag and Craven. 

[OP: Maric] Hashtag and Craven were Strikers too?

[OP: QJ] In a nutshell.  Fora trained the players they knew, mixed in a nation of NPCs and the best Strikers in the game. 

A few minutes after noon, the convoy arrived at Lake Ghalt. QJ had the subterranean overlay up and brought them to the entrance he and Ringo used. 

Shortly after Remmy entered the cab, and the Beast roared to life, a deafening racket of turning gears, popping pistons, and regular backfires that sent black smoke churning from the twin smokestacks.  With the tailgate down, she drove the Beast right off the wagon. 

[Convoy: Remmy] Bring that overlay up here, QJ.

QJ climbed up the enormous track and perched next to the driver's seat while Remmy studied the overlay.  "Going in at the entrance will cause flooding, but it will be fairly minor."

Remmy pointed to an overlay opening near the start of the Engineer's road.  "I'll punch in here, no flooding, and we'll leave them a better exit."

QJ nodded, forced to hold on as the Beast accelerated across the flat terrain toward their entry point.  "This is faster than I expected.  What's the top end?"

Remmy treated him to a dimpled smile.  "Forty kilometers per hour on the flat," she replied. 

The Beast stopped a while later, long enough for QJ to hop down.  He joined Ringo and the rest of OP, who were curious to see it in action. 

[Convoy: Remmy] Here we go!

The noise from the Beast dampened suddenly as the whine of servos and hydraulics took over.  Three large jack pads emerged from the bottom rear of the vehicle.  They crunched into the packed ground, and slowly, the tail-end rose. 

QJ whistled softly.  The hydraulic psi necessary to lift something like that off the ground would be substantial.  It raised continually, in small jerky motions, each followed by the hiss of pressure valves releasing.  When the angle of the Beast exceeded forty-five degrees, Remmy engaged the drill. 

The funnel-shaped drill head began spinning, inching forward slowly since most of the track was in the air.  As soon as the tip of the bit engaged the surface, it augered two meters into the rocky soil without issue.  Remmy quickly retracted the jack pads and slid her goggles in place. 

[Convoy: Remmy] Here we go. 

In a cloud of pulverized rock and soil, the Beast descended. The grinding and cutting continued and within a relatively short period, the Beast was gone. 

[OP: Chainy] This thing would be handy for taking down enemy Keeps. 

[OP: QJ] Agreed.  They will punch into the main cavern and then drill through the debris.  I'm heading back to the workshop to get some projects started. 

[OP: Ringo] We'll stay here and provide security for a few hours until the relief shows up. 

[OP: QJ] The Ba'Avriel should be here by 1600 hours.  I'm going to log out for a quick bite and then start crafting.